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The battle of Wenlock Edge (Mercia- UDI 1995)
Causes The control of a strategic border territory and maintain/breaking the integrity of the northern provinces of Clun and Ludlow. There was a possible option for the UK or Federal forces to push on in to Breconshire, Much Wenlock, Shifnal and Sokechurch. The Battle The limestone Wenlock Edge escarpment made for ideal defensive territory and all sides had realised this, it would involve the sort of inter-hedgerow/hegde-to-path ambushes of the Battle of the Bocage in WWII. By this time both the allied Federal, Breconshire, and Shifnal and Codsall troops had decided to dig in and prepaid to ambush the UK forces. The 2 Leopard 2 tanks were set up on the B4371 road to ambush the reported UK armoured coulomb, with the Swiss made Maxim Machine gun Model 1911 and 2 Browning 0.50 calibre machine gun and 2 Mk 19 40 mm grenade launcher set along the road to form a 'killing zone' in front of the rebel tanks. The M30 107 mm heavy mortar, 20 Federal troops and 10 Breconshire troops were set some way back to help out if needed, once the ambush had started. As the British troops reached the for-warned rebel road block and ambush, they felt something was going on and held back most of their infantry men, a machine gunner, a mortar crew, a tank and the 2 Landovers. The ambush worked, but the tanks were more than they expected and a lot tougher than the APCs they expected to intercept. The Rebel’s mortar bought time for a retreat to a more defensible place, but the destroyed rebel tanks and there crews for dead. 3 of the UK force’s tanks were also taken out by the hour long clash. As grenade launchers and mortars popped off and machine guns rattled on, troops clashed across a 1 km2 combat zone just west of the former ambush site. Both sides took heavy casultys over the next 2 days and were efectivly inconpacitated as a fighting force. On the eavning of the 4th, the UK's 3 Hawker Siddeley Harriers turned the tide as the targeted airpower destroyed the rebel ground troops. Only the Breconshire machine gun crew, thier Maxim gun escaped. A few rebels were taken prisoner, but most had been killed, as has about a third of the UK forces. All the tanks, on both sides, had been either disabled or destroyed. Both sides were now planning to play hard ball from that point onward. Tactics The Limestone Wenlock Edge escarpment made for ideal defensive territory and all sides had realised this, it would involve the sort of inter-hedgerow/hedge-to-path ambushes of the Battle of the Bocage in WWII. The UK's 3 Hawker Siddeley Harriers would turn the tide as targeted airpower can defeat ground troops. The aftermath The severity of his clash spooked both the UK and rebel forces for years to come. The way was opened up for a later atack on Shifnal and Kniver in the rebel regions of Sisdon and Codsal and Shifnal. the Kinver military campaign would occer in it's wake. Also See #Mercia- UDI 1995 Category:Military Category:United Kingdom Category:Mercia- UDI 1995 Category:War